The world's first war is in Ukraine: how UAVs changed fighting in 2022-2024

Quadcopters have turned from toys into murder machines, inconspicuous boats are deprived of the Russian Fleet, large autonomous drones beat Ukrainian and Russian cities. Focus studied how different types of aircraft were used and improved in two years of war. One of the most significant cases with the use of drones occurred in February, when Russian troops broke through Belarus and went to capture Kiev.

The forces of Ukraine's defense turned to 15-year-old teenager Andrei Pokrasa, who, with the help of his quadcopter, discovered the column of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which moved the Zhytomyr highway, and handed it to GPS coordinates. Due to this, Ukrainian artillerymen were able to cover the occupiers accurately and break them near the village of Berezivka 40 km from Kiev.

After a full -scale invasion, the border guard on the alias Alex Dron went to the Kharkiv region, where he performed air intelligence. According to him, unmanned aircraft broke the course of this war. With the help of drones, the air intelligence officer and his team provided the commanders with detailed staff of the positions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, later they began to transfer their experience to other units.

The command liked the work, so it began to develop unmanned aviation. Soon aerotevists also instructed the strokes of artillery, and this also turned out to be very effective-together operators and artillerymen have shot a lot of Russian equipment, including tank, BMP-3, BTR-82A. "For example, at the headquarters, officers sit, you can output the picture in order to adjust the way they need - not through the intermediate link, but directly," the military specialist shared.

After successful work in the Kharkiv region, Alex Dron was transferred to the Donetsk direction, where he taught other groups of UAV operators. All air drones can be roughly divided into two categories: copters and devices with aircraft type. The first include commercial drones, such as Mavic 3 of DJI-in 2022 it was perhaps the most popular UAVs in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the fighters actively used them to reconnaissance directly on the front line.

A few months later, the same civilian drones were thought of used for attack, but we will talk about it below. In July 2020, the founder of the training and training center for training and advanced training of quadcopter operators, Viktor Taran, reported that 95% of all drones used by the Ukrainian military are on the model from DJI and Autel manufacturers. They are quite easy to control, so the fighters quickly mastered them.

For example, DJI Mavic 3 allows you to shoot a 4K video from a height of 6 km, transfer it to the operator within 5 km, accelerate to 72 km/h and work 31 minutes on one battery charge. The camera is good enough to see a person in all details from a height of 400 meters, not to mention the technique. There is a version with a thermal imaging that allows you to work even at night.

A little worse characteristics in Mavic 2, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom, Phantom, Inspire, but the defense forces were also used if they were obtained from volunteers. The Ukrainian military was not limited to DJI products. For example, sometimes they used drones from Autel Robotics and Skydio, which are more expensive, but in some aspects, even the best than "Mavicians". It seems that there are many types of copter in the military arsenal, but even more unmanned aircraft.

Russia was engaged in this direction more than 10 years ago, and before the start of a full -scale invasion, they already had different models: "eagles", "Elerons", "outposts", "Merlin", "Cartographers", SuperCam and others. All of them help the Russians to reconnaissance and adjust artillery. "Orlan-10" should be especially distinguished, as it is the most massive model of UAV of aircraft type made in Russia.

They not only explored the positions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, flying into the deep rear, but also tracked the mobile phones of Ukrainians and suppressed the cellular communication, working as part of the complex of electronic intelligence "Leer-3". Russian drones fly high, but still vulnerable to air defense. The defenders of Ukraine over the two years of a full -scale war proved this, knocking not only widespread "eagles", but also rare models such as Merlin.

Russia did not stand still, but was looking for how to improve existing UAVs. In May 2022, the invaders reported that they began to use in the war in Ukraine a shock modification "Orlan-10" with cassette ammunition fixed in special containers under the wings. It is unknown how massively such UAVs were launched, but they accurately flew over the battlefield, because in January 2023 the Ukrainian military landed one of them with the help of the Reb.

In addition to the modification of the old ones, Russia also worked on new models. In August 2023, Kronstadt stated that the first flight was made by a military drone "Sirius", capable of carrying corrected and fugas airbots weighing up to 450 kilograms. It is expected that the model was helped by the Dron MQ-9 Reaper of the US Navy, which in the same summer the Army of the Russian Federation shot down over the Black Sea, and then raised the fragments from the bottom.

Sirius's further fate is unknown. And what in Ukraine? At the time of the full -scale invasion of the Armed Forces there was no such large park of intelligence aircraft as the occupiers, and had to be recovered in this direction. Like the Russians, aircraft type drones are needed for defenders of Ukraine to conduct intelligence from the air, find goals and more accurately affect them.

Ukrainians created from scratch or finalized dozens of different models, although not all of them have taken root in defense. Some experiences before the beginning of the Great War were already. Back in 2015, Ukroboronprom presented the domestic Fury drone, and since then the model has been actively used in hostilities. A rather small plane that can easily lift a person, flies 50 km from the operator and transmits a video from the camera both day and night.

By 2022, several more Ukrainian companies were producing their unmanned aircraft for the military. Thus, more than 300 Lelek-100 reconnaissance UAVs were released from the Dnieper from 2015 to 2020, and they were officially adopted by the Armed Forces. Since 2014, drones have also been collecting UkrspecSystems, their PD-2 can fly 1000 km without refueling and keep in touch within 180 km. Later, deviro united with Czech colleagues and created a new drone Leleka LR, better protected from EW.

After a full -scale invasion of Ukraine, there were even more teams that develop aircraft reconnaissance UAVs, and many of them have succeeded. Engineers have created several models from scratch, taking into account the new requests of defense forces, namely, the invisibility in the sky, the reliability of the structure in combat, the convenience of launching and protection against the means of HR.

Some enterprises have decided to recycle the available drones for cartography - their cameras have become useful for intelligence. One of the first unmanned aircraft of the new generation was Shark from UkrspecSystems, the company developed it in six months and first presented it in October 2022. Two months later, the creators have collected a modernized version, capable of flying twice as long.

In addition to intelligence, UAVs can adjust the strikes of American Himars artillery systems that Western partners have handed over to Ukraine. Another example of successful development during the war was the UABL "Witch", created by masters from the Federation of Aviation Model in Dnipropetrovsk region. In December 2022, they began mass production. This aircraft is made of lightweight materials, simply collected and repaired in combat.

He does not pass the video to the operator, but simply records it, so to receive intelligence the military you need to not only run, but also land it. But thanks to this feature of "sorcerer" is almost imperceptible to Russian reconnaissance remedies and resistant to obstacles. The Ukrainian military evaluated the benefits of the apparatus and use them against the Russians. At the end of the year, the successes of drones-fields were noticed in the Ministry of Defense.

In December, D-80 Discovery and E-300 Enterprise were granted permission for operation in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers quickly realized that drones can not only look at the opponent from above, pointing the goals, but also destroy them themselves, in the fall and winter of 2022 the phenomenon became mass. Initially, the DJI Mavic has arranged commercial systems for resetting chocolates and other little things, but only dropped small grenades such as POP-17.

Later, engineers began to improve such systems that they support more weight and work more reliably in combat. The details were printed on 3D printers, as well as ammunition stabilizers so that they would fall from high height more precisely, and the wind did not carry them away from the target. As a rule, light grenades are not powerful enough to cause significant damage, but the operators have repeatedly destroyed Russian soldiers and even disrupted the equipment, including tanks.

The Ukrainian serviceman from the 10th Mining and Outstone "Edelweiss" Andriy Skibin with the call sign "Skiba" said that with the help of Mavic 3 he arranged daily raids on the position of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, spending about the box of pomegranates a day, but even the Russians managed to knock down. Since the beginning of the year, the 23-year-old operator, according to him, thus destroyed more than 500 invaders.

When Mavicians were not enough to destroy targets, the Ukrainian military used larger drones capable of lifting heavy mines. For example, DJI Matrice 300 is a civilian drone designed for industry. If Mavic raises about 1. 5 kg, then his older brother - 2. 7 kg, almost twice as much. Agras T30 agricultural copters are already 30 kg from the same manufacturer, only you need to remove fertilizer containers and replace them with ammunition.

A group of Ukrainian engineers under the patronage of the NGO "Aero -Intelligence" created their own battle drone R18, which the military began to be used in early 2022. A copter with 8 engines worth about $ 20,000 raises an ammunition with a total weight of 5 kg-these can be two anti-tank grenades RKG-3 or RKG-1600 bombs, very effective against equipment. The range in R18 is small, only 4 km, but the thermal imager allows you to arrange a bombing even at night.

In 2023, R18 evolved into R34 drone. The new version is already designed for six ammunition with a total weighing up to 30 kg. The range has increased to 10 km, while the drone can automatically fly and attack goals according to the given coordinates, so less vulnerable to the means of HR. In the summer of 2023, the Russian military complained for the first time on the semi -mythical heavy drones, which they called "Baba Yaga".

In the Chechen unit "Akhmat" they were described as UAVs "the size of a person" that arrive at night, dropped up to four 82 mm mines or two large 120 mm mines, invulnerable to Reb and bullets, but knocked down grenade launchers. According to the Russians, the versions of "Baba Yaga" are equipped with "claws" to abduct the wounded occupiers. Of course, these are all fairy tales.

In November, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine revealed that the drones of "Baba Yaga", which are so frightening of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - are Vampire hexacpoters. They lift a decent weight - about 20 kg, but people are not able to pick up. But perfectly destroy the warehouses, living power and technique of the enemy. They were especially effective in the Krynok district in the Kherson region, helping the Armed Forces to keep the bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper.

Air -type UAVs also began to be used for blows. Since February 2022, the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces have begun to actively use Punisher complexes that UA Dynamics has been producing since 2016. Quite cheap and easy to maintain UAVs can drop a 75-mm bomb weighing 2 kg with high accuracy. Such a bomber is good for the defeat of fixed purposes at a distance of up to 45 km.

Much more popular than bombers in Ukraine were Kamikadze aircraft, with several teams of engineers after a full-scale invasion. The Kryvyi Rih team makes drones called SBRA ("Cobra"), designed for blows up to 300 km. In December 2023, the head of the project Vitaliy Brizgalov told Focus that the military has long been using such drones, but their mass production has not yet begun. The military from the 67th separate mechanized brigade created the Khrushch complex.

The copter-carrier lifts and discharges the Kamikadze aircraft from cheap materials: foam, plywood, special film, PVC pipes. So the shock drone can fly up to 20 km and hit the target. The unusual complex was protested by the military in different areas of the front. Since 2022, many such experiments have been conducted in Ukraine and made percussion UAVs of different types and structures, but with different success.

Some of them have not been tested, others were unreliable or disadvantageous in production. Defense forces and unmanned foreign production systems, such as Bayraktar TB2, which became legendary, were used. They had a great impact on the course of hostilities, but they have changed little, unlike Ukrainian models that are constantly improving, so we do not focus on them.

In September 2022, Russia began to attack Ukraine with Iranian bargemate SHahd-131 and Shahd-136, the invaders signed them "Geran-1" and "Geran-2" respectively. The devices themselves are different in size, the larger ShahED-136 has a triangular glider with a wing of 3. 5 meters and can fly up to 2000 km due to a gasoline engine.

UAV moves to the target autonomously, without the operator's participation, guided by the satellite navigation system of GPS, as well as inertial, which maintains an approximate course if the first does not work. That autumn, with the help of Shahmed and missiles, the Russians caused great damage to the Ukrainian energy system, attacking infrastructure. If the drones did not fly alone, at least distracted the air defense system.

Subsequently, the defense forces learned to fight Shahaneda, knocking them down not so much anti -aircraft missiles as mobile groups with heavy machine guns and floodlights. The Ministry of Defense reported the supply to Ukraine for the interception of "shahas" on the basis of drones-heads Fortem Dronehunter F700, which firing nets-they donated 152 million UAH on them.

According to Minister Mikhail Fedorov, they were installed to protect energy facilities, but information about their efficiency is kept secret. Russia began not only to buy from Iran, but also to collect "chema" at its factories, constantly tried to make them even more efficient, collected and used different versions.

In 2023, the Armed Forces forced the UAV to fly on complex routes and circle in place to bypass or provoke air defense products, and black drones were also used, which is harder to see in the night sky. In November 2023, an unusual shock drone was knocked out in Ukraine-Shahaneda with SIM card and a cellular communication modem. According to experts, such technology can be used by occupiers to change the route in the sky or track drones: where they flew safely and where they were shot down.

On January 8, the Armed Forces were shot down for the first time a Shahed jet. According to the Ukrainian serviceman Sergey Beskrestnov, it was a test model with a jet engine and the same combat part as in Shahd-136. The advantages of such UAV are doubtful, so it is unlikely to be produced in Russia. Russia in the war in Ukraine for the first time applied its latest and, perhaps, the most modern weapons - "Lancet".

It is not a copter and not a plane, but a separate story-a barrel ammunition with X-shaped wings. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation began to use massively "lancets" at the end of 2022, attacking military equipment and artillery tens of kilometers from the front line.

Initially, Russian scouts, such as "Orlan-10", Zala or Supercam, find goals and determine their coordinates, then the invaders launch a "lancet", which is looking for the desired object with a camera, and then by the operator command and dives down up to 300 km/h. In the last stage, it is almost impossible to stop it, although sometimes drones are entangled in nets.

Zala Aero developer company releases Lancet-1 with a combat part of 1 kg and Lancet-3 with a warhead weighing 3 kg, as well as newer versions with increased range. They suggest that they struck the MiG-29 and Su-25 planes at the Dolgintseve Air Base near Kryvyi Rih-50 km from the front line.

In July 2023, the Russians presented a new version of Lancet with the working name "product-53", which has to be autonomously beaten for purpose with the help of such artificial intelligence and united in swarm. However, information has recently emerged that this feature was disconnected due to errors. The Commander -in -Chief of the Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhni was published in The Economist Economist, which distinguished Lancet UAV as a significant threat.

According to him, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation began to actively use such drones for counter -battering struggle, and it is difficult to resist them in the war. This helped the Russian Federation to compensate for the lack of long -range artillery systems such as HIMARS. While the Russian Armed Forces launched "Shahda", the Ukrainians at the end of 2022 began to beat long -range drones in the enemy.

Резонансний випадок стався 5 грудня, коли невідомі БПЛА вдарили по військовому аеродрому в місті Енгельс у Саратовській області та пошкодили два літаки.

Того ж дня вибухи прогриміли на аеродромі "Дягилево" в Рязанській області, пошкодження отримали два літаки Ту-95МС і Ту-22М3. Згідно з найпопулярнішою версією, ударів завдали радянські БПЛА Ту-141 "Стриж" з дальністю польоту до 1000 км і 150 кг корисного навантаження.

Передбачається, що українські інженери витягли з безпілотників непотрібне обладнання для повітряної зйомки, а місце, що звільнилося, заповнили вибухівкою.

Опісля дрони ще неодноразово атакували територію Росії, деякі навіть поцілили по Кремлю в Москві, хоча державне та військове керівництво України не брало на себе відповідального за ці удари.

Але час від часу вибухи продовжують гриміти на російських заводах і нафтобазах, прилітає і по об'єктах в окупованому Криму.

Не було також офіційного підтвердження, які саме безпілотники для цього використовували, але експерти встановили кілька моделей за фото та відео, опублікованими очевидцями.

UJ-22 Airborne від компанії Ukrjet — це одномоторний безпілотник літакового типу, який може нести внутрішню боєголовку або кілька бомб, які скидаються з повітря. Радіус дії оцінюють приблизно у 800 км. Їм приписують кілька нальотів на Москву та удар по авіазаводу в Смоленську.

UJ-25 Skyline від тієї ж компанії став ударною версією безпілотника Ukrajet UJ-23 Topaz. Він має реактивний двигун і характерні стрілоподібні крила. Такі безпілотники росіяни виявили в Брянській області та Підмосков'ї.

Багато галасу наробив український БПЛА UJ-26 Beaver ("Бобер"), вперше показаний блогером Ігорем Лаченковим. Він має корпус, зроблений за аеродинамічною схемою "качка", за якої горизонтальне оперення розташоване попереду основного крила.

Заявлений запас ходу становить близько 1000 км, а корисне навантаження — до 20 кг. У листопаді голова фонду "Повернись живим" Тарас Чмут розповів історію дрона "Бобер".

За його словами, представники ГУР звернулися до волонтерів і попросили придбати тестову партію БПЛА з дальністю до 600 км і бойовою частиною 25 кг. Розвідники хотіли отримати дрони, здатні бити по глибокому тилу Росії, уражаючи об'єкти в найнесподіваніших місцях.

Перші бойові застосування виявилися успішними, нехай і не всі безпілотники досягли мети. На цей проєкт витратили 40 млн грн.

Після цього ГУР запропонувала ще одну програму — потрібно було зібрати 230 млн грн, але так, щоб не тільки ворог, а й навіть самі українці, які жертвують гроші, не знали, на що їх витратять.

Так відбувся проєкт Black Box, у межах якого для воїнів купили 60 безпілотників дальнього радіусу дії, при цьому 45 із них — це були поліпшені версії БПЛА, названі "Бобрами". За допомогою всіх 60 безпілотників Україна завдала Росії збитків у розмірі щонайменше 900 мільйонів доларів.

Як запевняє Тарас Чмут, вони вдарили по заводах, де виготовляють компоненти для російських ракет — типів Х-59, Х-31 і Х-35, а також по місцю зберігання балістичних частин ракет "Іскандер". Не всі дрони, які атакували територію РФ або були збиті росіянами вдалося впізнати.

На початку лютого в Росії повідомили про нову знахідку — загадковий БПЛА з реактивним двигуном JetCat P400-PRO та осколково-фугасною бойовою частиною з металевими кульками.

Ще в червні 2023 року в "Укроборонпромі" заявили про успішне застосування безпілотника з дальністю дії 1000 км, але його назву або характеристики досі не розкрили.

Перші використання таких виробів було зафіксовано ще навесні 2022 року, але на початку 2023 року українські військові освоїли і почали активно застосовувати проти окупантів нову зброю — ударні коптери з керуванням від першої особи (first person view або скорочено FPV).

На той момент по обидва боки фронту з'явилися антидронові рушниці, а Росія активізувала засоби радіоелектронної боротьби, які відтоді глушать звичайні квадрокоптери на кшталт Mavic, вони продовжують вести розвідку і навіть скидати гранати, але вже не так масово.

FPV-дрони ж дуже швидкі, близько 200 км\год, і працюють на інших радіочастотах, тому традиційні комплекси РЕБ виявилися безсилими, хоча пізніше з'явилися нові системи, що забезпечили захист бійців і транспорту, нехай і не стовідсотковий.

Українці раніше за РФ почали масово застосовувати БПЛА з дешевих китайських комплектуючих, прикріплюючи до них вибухівку. Згаданий вище Андрій Скібін, нині командир роти ударних безпілотних авіаційних комплексів, одним із перших пройшов курси пілотів FPV.

Спочатку бойові вильоти були малоуспішними, але згодом бійці ЗСУ обзавелися якісними станціями управління і ретрансляторами — все це, на відміну від одноразового дрона, можна використовувати багаторазово.

Умілий оператор здатний направити FPV-дрон у вразливе місце танка або навіть завести його у відкритий люк.

Зараз безпілотники-камікадзе вартістю $200-$500 становлять серйозну конкуренцію артилерії за точністю, ефективністю та кількістю знищеної техніки і живої сили, свідчення тому — численні ролики, що публікуються як українськими, так і російськими військовими.

Як кажуть у 10-й бригаді ЗСУ "Едельвейс", ще півроку тому для однієї роти було за щастя мати десяток FPV-дронів на роту, тепер же вона може за день витратити 20-30 апаратів.

Так, через кілька місяців росіяни побачили, наскільки добре працюють FPV-дрони на фронтах, і розгорнули в себе масове виробництво, технологія виявилася досить простою.

Варто зазначити, що росіяни могли навіть першими додумати до цього, адже Фокус знайшов інформацію про застосування таких пристроїв ЗС РФ вже у вересні 2022 року.

Конструкція FPV-дронів кардинально не змінювалася, оскільки більшість виробників використовували готові іноземні деталі.

Однак інженери поступово оптимізували конструкцію, підбирали акумулятори, приймачі, мотори та боєприпаси таким чином, щоб коптери могли пролетіти далі та завдати потужніших ударів. Зараз застосовуються різні типи бойових частин: кумулятивні, осколкові, термобаричні.

Деякі підрозділи вирішили застосовувати FPV-дрони як бомбардувальники, а не камікадзе, що зробило їх багаторазовими. Ключова зміна настала в листопаді 2023 року, коли ЗС РФ несподівано вдарили по українських військах вночі.

Як розповів Фокусу Сергій Бескрестнов, росіяни закупили в Китаї велику партію камер нічного зору для FPV-дронів, що збільшило їхню вартість приблизно вдвічі.

З їх допомогою окупанти завдали Силам оборони значних втрат, оскільки саме вночі відбуваються найактивніші переміщення на передовій. Блогер і волонтер Сергій Стерненко вважає, що навесні 2024 року в окупантів буде в 10 разів більше "нічних" FPV-дронів.

На щастя, в Україні теж уже роблять такі БПЛА. Ще однією проблемою стали FPV-дрони з машинним зором — їх ЗС РФ теж першими застосували на полі бою.

Спеціальне програмне забезпечення значно спрощує роботу оператора, йому достатньо лише вибрати і виділити на екрані планшета об'єкт, видимий через камеру, після чого безпілотник-система з високою ймовірністю сама доведе апарат до цілі, навіть якщо вона буде переміщатися.

Це зробить неефективною роботу будь-якого комплексу РЕБ, але українські військові помітили, що під час наведення дрони на кілька секунд зависають у повітрі, тому їх можна підстрелити.